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Certainty needed for future growth in the GTA

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Sep 8th, 2012
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By Bryan Tuckey Toronto Star August 24 2012
An interesting article was published in the Toronto Star last week about a new David Suzuki Foundation report that looked at the Ontario Greenbelt’s role in mitigating the effects of climate change.
As much as the topic was a good one, stay with me as I go a little off topic for a moment.
I have been thinking about the history of the Greenbelt, how the legislation came to be, and the certainty it now provides to not only our industry but numerous communities and the future residents of the greater GTA.
For those who need a refresher, the Greenbelt was established in 2005 as a large swath of permanently protected land reaching from Niagara Region and Hamilton, across the GTA and north to Simcoe County. The legislation’s main goal is to protect valuable agricultural lands and natural features, as well as the ecosystems within.
BILD and its counterpart, the Ontario Home Builders’ Association, were at the table as the Greenbelt study and subsequent legislation was being written. We submitted a response in 2004 requesting a swifter conclusion to the study process and some certainty — and I quote, “the longer time passes, the more uncertainty is created.”
Fast forward to today. This is exactly what we found ourselves asking of the provincial government again. Only, this time, it’s with regard to the implementation of the Growth Plan.
To be more specific, we are asking for certainty around the future of the whitebelt as room for GTA municipalities to grow past 2031.
Let me explain.
Right now, the planning horizon in the province’s Growth Plan is only until 2031. But life and growth as we know it will, of course, continue past then.
BILD and the OHBA represented the industry and its future homeowners as the Growth Plan was being finalized and we remain supportive of the plan that was brought into force in 2006.
Since then, regional municipalities have updated their Official Plans to conform with the Growth Plan policies — which had a deadline of 2009 — but several are now being appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.
So we wait.
Most plans will not achieve conformity until 2015 and the local and community resistance to intensification continues to be the most significant roadblock to the ultimate success of the Growth Plan. Regulatory processes have created land-supply shortages and housing affordability is being adversely affected.
In addition, there is a lack of certainty around the whitebelt lands. Intended for future growth, it hasn’t been made clear to municipalities that if they designate the land as a foodbelt, protected countryside, or slated for Greenbelt expansion in their local plans, the land could be sterilized from future development.
We all need certainty because the outer ring of the greater GTA will one day be home to our grandchildren, but only if they can find somewhere to live.
Bryan Tuckey is President and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and can be found on Twitter (twitter.com/bildgta), Facebook (facebook.com/bildgta), Youtube (youtube.com/bildgta) and BILD’s official online blog (bildblogs.ca)

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